Nightmare
by FlyingBacon
Summary: It was just a nightmare, a stupid dream, his imagination, for crying out loud! So…why did that one nightmare affect him so much? And why were his team-members so determined to find out what his dream was about?
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** So this is my first Young Justice Fanfiction. I fell in love with this series after seeing it on CN, and I just had to write a fanfic on it. There aren't going to be any pairings in this story, just to let everyone know. This chapter is really short…it's really just an intro. **Bold** means it's Robin's dream/something in the past.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. Yay! Wasn't that obvious!

**The stands were filled to the brim with cheering fans. The spotlights, pointed towards the center of the stage, towards the two trapezes. It was the perfect day. It was going to be the perfect first show for Richard Grayson.**

** The nine-year-old boy was back stage, preparing for his first show as the youngest Flying Grayson. **

** "Mom, dad, my stomach hurts." The boy wined.**

** "You just have stage fright, Dick. It'll be alright." His dad said, smiling at his young son.**

** "What's stage fright?"**

** "Well, sweetie," His mom addressed, "It just means you're a little nervous of what's going to happen once you're on stage." The boy looked up at his mother with a concerned glance.**

** "Don't worry, son, it'll be alright." His dad said.**

** "You promise!" Richard asked. His father turned to look at his wife, and placed his hand on her shoulder.**

** "We promise." His mother said. A large grin fell onto the boy's face. "Now, Dick, we have to go on now. You know when your cue is, right?" The boy nodded. "Then we'll see you out there." His mother kissed her son's forehead. "Good luck."**

** "Don't worry son," His father kissed the boy's forehead. "You'll be great." The boy watched his parents walk away. They climbed latters, then disappeared through the curtains. The young boy decided to move in front of the curtains to see his parents preform. He walked out on stage, and no one noticed because the spotlight was too focused on his parents.**

_**"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are proud to introduce: The Flying Graysons!"**_** The loudspeaker voiced. The spotlights focused on the two lead acrobats, as they grabbed hold of their trapezes. **

** The boy's mouth opened in amazement as he watched his parents swing from their stands. Then, his eyes widened in horror as he watched the trapeze ropes give way. His parents were falling. And no one was there to save them. The nine-year-old watched in horror as his parents fell to the ground. He ran over to them, only to discover that their bodies were coated in blood, as well as the ground beneath them.**

** The crowds all screamed and frantically exited the tent, leaving apparently only the boy and his parents. **

** "Mom! Dad!" The boy screamed, tears pouring from his eyes. "You can't be gone! I need you! You can't be gone! You can't be!" He practically jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.**

** "Those are your parents, aren't they?" The man asked.**

** "W-who are y-you?" The boy asked, stuttering from the lump in his throat. **

** "My name is Bruce Wayne." **

** "Why-why are you still h-here? E-everyone else l-left." **

** "I saw what happened."**

** "Why w-weren't you afraid? L-like them?" The boy asked, referencing to the now empty stands. **

** "There are times to be afraid, and there are times to put your fear aside and help those who need help." **

** "I-I need help. I-I'm afraid." **

Robin woke up, screaming. He jolted upward and grasped his chest, breathing heavily. He stood up and walked to the other side of his room, entering his bathroom.

"It was just dream, Robin. It was just a dream." The teen turned on the sink and splashed some cold water on his face. "It was just a stupid dream. It's not happening again. It won't happen again...it _couldn't_ even happen again."

Robin glanced up at his reflection in the mirror. "That's all in the past." The boy tried convincing himself. "But they didn't deserve to die…it wasn't fair. Why them?"

The teen walked back over to his bed and sat down. He glanced over at his clock and saw that it was five o'clock in the morning. "Might as well get up now. I don't want to fall asleep again. Not if there's a chance I'll have the same dream."

The Boy Wonder got dressed in his normal outfit, consisting of jeans, a hoodie, a jacket, sneakers, and a pair of sunglasses, and walked to the living room. "Maybe some TV will help me get my mind off of it." He said as he sat on the couch.

"Off of what?" Wally asked him. Robin almost jumped off the couch from the shock. Where did Wally just come from? It was _his_ job to sneak up on people-not the other way around.

"Oh, I just had a bad dream." Robin said, trying to give Wally an extremely broad answer.

"About what?"

"Oh, you know…same old, same old."

"What's 'same old, same old'?"

"Oh, you know, pandas and all that stuff."

"You had a nightmare…about…pandas!" Wally asked. Robin could tell by his tone that Kid was _not_ convinced with his answer. "Okay, since we both know that's total crap, care to tell me what's actually going on?"

"I just had a nightmare! That's all it was!" Robin said, yelling at his friend.

"Whoa, chill Rob. I was just curious."

"Well maybe I don't want you to know what it was about! Just because you're my friend doesn't mean I have to tell you everything!"

"I know, Robin. You're overreacting. Just cool off, we can drop it if you want."

The Boy Wonder took a deep breath and shook his head. "Sorry, I just…lost it."

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Robin simply nodded his head before he stood up and left the living room. "I want to tell you KF, I just…I just can't."

**AN:** Okay, like I said in my other AN, this chapter is really short, and it's basically just an introduction to the story. The story probably won't have too many chapters, but it'll have a decent amount. The more reviews I get, the faster I update, so don't just read and favorite (well, do those too), but Review!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN**: Wow…I got so many reviews for one chapter of this story. 12…I think that's the most I've ever gotten for one chapter of any of my stories. Thank you guys :D

Not sure how many people saw the new episode of Young Justice, but I always like to talk about previous episodes of shows before I get to the story. If you haven't seen the episode yet, you may want to skip the next paragraph. 

I really liked the episode, but I thought it focused too much on Superboy. I'm not too fond of his character, I mean, I like him, but not enough to have an entire episode focused on him this early in the season. Loved the fact that Robin laughed after Black Canary beat up the rest of his team. Oh, and did anyone see that picture in the trophy case when they were in Robin's school? Was that Robin? Well, Dick? I couldn't really tell, and now I'm curious.

Here's the story though. YJ © DC

"Okay, Guys, Robin's been acting weird. And I mean, _really_ weird." Kid Flash said as he walked into the living room. He had gone back to his room for a few hours after Robin left the living room earlier that morning.

"How so?" Miss Martian asked.

"I was talking to his this morning, and he just started yelling at me after I asked him about some dream he had." Wally explained.

"What dream?" Aqualad asked.

"Apparently he had a bad dream. I don't know."

"Should we be concerned?" Megan asked.

"With Boy Wonder? I can never tell-he's too hard to read. Maybe, maybe not."

"What are we concerned about?" Superboy asked. He had walked into the room at that moment.

"Apparently Robin had a nightmare last night and he lost it the following morning." Aqualad explained.

"He didn't really 'lose it'. I mean, he did, but he apologized after his outburst." Wally said.

"So what are we doing?" Superboy asked.

The three other heroes looked at one another. "We're not sure." Wally said.

"Perhaps we should start by figuring out what the dream was about." Aqualad suggested.

"But how?" Megan asked.

"We could start by asking him." Superboy said. Kid Flash just laughed at Superboy's plan. "What's so funny?" He asked, slightly annoyed.

"Tried that already-didn't really work." Wally said. "Robby isn't really the type to 'share his feelings'."

"Where is Robin, anyway?" Kaldur asked. The other teens turned and looked around the living room.

"I'm not sure." Wally said.

"We should check the base." Megan suggested.

"Good idea. Let's split up and search the base." Aqualad said. The heroes left the living room and split off in separate directions."

XxXxXxXxXx

Robin needed to get away. He needed to get away before he snapped again. His friends were probably getting suspicious because Wally most likely blabbed about his little nightmare. Robin didn't want them finding out his past. If they did find out, he wanted to be the one to tell them. He didn't want them to find out on their own, and then get mad at him later for keeping it a secret that he was a thirteen-year-old orphan and had been for four years.

Since he only really had two "homes", The Boy Wonder decided to go to the one his friends were not at. He knew Batman would understand if he took a break. Especially after he explained to Bruce about his dream and his following outburst at Wally.

Robin walked up the pathway to the Wayne mansion and pulled a key from his pocket. He unlocked the door and met another door, one which he had to type a sequence into a lock pad to unlock. Once the door slid open, the boy entered the garage and was greeted by Batman's loyal butler; Alfred.

"Hello master Richard." Alfred greeted.

"Hey Alfred." Robin said while climbing onto a stool next to a plain, black table.

"What are you doing back here? Is everything alright?"

"I'm not sure, Alfred."

"What happened?"

"I had another…nightmare. Only this time Wally had to go and ask me about it, and I had to go and scream at him."

"Was this one about…the same events as always?" Alfred asked, hesitant to finish his question.

The boy hung his head before answering, "Yes."

"I'm sorry, Master Richard."

Robin put his hand up in an effort to stop Alfred. "Don't be. It's not your fault. You don't need to apologize." Alfred simply nodded. "Do you know where Bruce is?"

"I believe he is with the rest of the league."

"Alright. I'm just going to stay here for a while."

"Is there anything I can do to help with the…memories?"

Robin shook his head. "I really wish there was."

"I take it the memories aren't you only problem." Alfred said.

"What do you mean?"

"You're socializing with others for the first time since it…happened."

"I talk with other kids all the time. I go to school, and I've been best friends with Wally for a year or two."

"I don't mean just talking to them." Alfred corrected. "I mean, you're being placed into a family environment for the first time since…you know."

"Alfred, you can say it." Dick said.

"Since their deaths." Alfred lightly said. He was obviously hesitant in saying it, even if Robin had said he was alright with it. "Bruce has always given you space. With them, you don't really have space. The youngest always gets the most attention, negative or positive, whether they want it or not. And that's not even considering the fact that you're the only one with a classified identity."

"So you're saying I should get used to them bugging me about my past." Robin said, simplifying Alfred's comment. The faithful butler nodded his head. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two until Robin decided to break it. "So, what are you working on for Bats now?"

"New technology for Master Bruce."

"Care to explain what it does?"

"Not really." Alfred simply stated.

"What?" Robin was surprised at Alfred's comment. Ever since he had found out his adoptive father was Batman, the man had always been open to discussing everything he was working on for Batman with Robin.

"You're not the only one who keeps secrets around here. I'm sure Bruce wouldn't want me telling you."

"But I'm his partner. He should trust me enough to-" Robin stopped in realization and looked to see that Alfred was smiling. "Oh, I see what you were doing there." He said while smiling at the butler.

Alfred smiled in return, and Robin just shook his head. "But it's not the same, Alfred. I've known Bats for years and he's like…my father almost."

"You said yourself that you've known Wally for a few years." Alfred reminded.

"That's true, but I just feel different around Bruce. Like we don't need to keep secrets around one another because well, we have enough shared secrets to keep from the rest of the world."

The sound of the large metal doors opening brought Robin's ideas to a halt. "Nice to know I can trust my partner." Bruce said as the doors slid closed and the man walked inside the room.

"I hope the trust is mutual." Robin said.

"Depends what we're talking about."

"So you want to go there, don't you?" The boy challenged.

"Perhaps I should leave you two alone." Alfred said before leaving the room.

"Why are you here, Dick?" Batman asked. The boy fake smiled at the man, but the attempted sign of happiness failed, and it was as obvious to Bruce as it was to Dick. "You had the nightmare again, didn't you?" The man solemnly asked.

Robin nodded. The Boy Wonder wasn't exactly in the mood to speak anymore.

"The same one where your parents…" Robin stared at Batman for a moment, expecting him to finish his statement. When it turned out the man was done with his thought, Robin got a little annoyed.

"Why does no one ever just say it!" Dick yelled with a slightly annoyed tone to his voice. "I don't need people to protect me from my own memories! I know what happened!"

"I was just-"

"No! I'm sick of people trying to sugarcoat everything that has to do with my past!"

"Maybe everyone does it so you don't get defensive and overreact like you are now." Batman said.

Robin shook his head back and forth, realizing his fault. "That's the second time I've lost it today…"

"Second? When was the first?"

"Earlier today." A raise of the eyebrow from Bruce told the boy his answer wasn't good enough. "I yelled at Wally for asking me about my nightmare."

"What'd he ask?"

"Just what happened."

"And you told him…what? Exactly?"

A small smile slipped onto Robin's face before he answered his mentor. "Pandas…"

"You told Wally you had a nightmare about…pandas?" Bruce asked, trying to process the stupidity of what Robin had just told him.

"Yeah, I know; stupid. I didn't know what else to say."

"You could have just said death. He probably wouldn't have asked you to specify."

The Boy Wonder began laughing. "We _are_ talking about the same Wally West right now, right?"

"I suppose you do have a point." Bruce paused. "Was the dream same as always?"

"It was at the circus, like always, but this time some of our conversation leaked into it. It got up to the part where you introduced yourself and then where you said people sometimes put away their fears to help others."

"Why do you suppose it was longer than usual?"

"Don't know." Bruce sighed. Robin clearly wasn't understanding the point he was trying to make.

"Dreams sometimes reveal the subconscious. Whether its desires, fears, or painful memories." Batman watched as Robin hung his head.

"What are you trying to get out of this?" The boy asked, not bothering to lift his head.

"Your dreams, as far as you've told me, have always stopped at the part where you found your parents. This time, it ended at the part where I said sometimes one needs to put their fears aside." Robin lifted an eyebrow at his mentor. "Robin, I'm saying that maybe your dreams are trying to tell you it's time to tell them. For now, at least, you just need to resist the temptation to let your secret out."

"But Bruce, if I told them about my dream, they'd find out who I am."

"And how would they do that?"

"I'd probably let the Flying Grayson thing slip."

"You don't have to tell them anything specific about your dream. Just give them a vague idea. They'll understand. I'm sure of it."

"I guess you're right…thanks, Bruce." Robin said.

"Yes?" Batman said, answering his earpiece. "Alright, send me the coordinates and I'll be right there."

"Mission?"

"Mission." The Dark Knight confirmed. "I'm assuming you'll be back at your base by the time I'm back?"

"Is that a command, or just a confirmation?"

"Just a confirmation."

"Sure it was." Robin said, laughing. "Well you're in luck, because I was planning on heading back anyway."

"Look, Robin," Batman placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Just tell them what you feel is appropriate. You've had plenty of experiences with interrogation, and I know that you know when to stop before you give away anything. But still, just be careful, Robin."

"Will do." The boy said before his mentor pressed a button and opened the door to the batcave. The man disappeared, and immediately after, Alfred returned.

"And are you truly returning to your headquarters?" Alfred asked.

"Eh, sooner or later. Not yet."

"Are you staying here?"

"Probably not. I'll just wander around the city. Maybe seeing if there's any crime to stop 'll help me get my mind off of things." Robin stood up from the stool and walked over to the door.

"Be careful, Master Richard." Alfred said.

Robin just smiled before leaving the garage. Really, since when was _he_, Boy Wonder, never _careful_?

**AN**: Hopefully this chapter made up for the shortness of the other one, even if it was mainly just characters talking about Robin's nightmare. There's going to be some more action in the next chapter, as well as the others starting to try figure out what Robin's dream could possibly be about. Again, more reviews means quicker updates!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN**: This chapter came out pretty quickly…I got so many reviews that I figured it would be nice to have a quick update. And about the picture; I can't believe Robin is a mathlete at his school…nerd. Well, that part inspired a short section of this story, so…it works xD

I figured he'd be like, a computer genius at his school. I'm not sure where the math part comes in, but whatever. YJ © DC

"No luck?"

"No luck."

"Can't find him anywhere."

"I believe he's gone."

The team had spent between an hour and two searching the base for Robin. They were finally starting to piece together the fact that he most likely left the base. And now the trouble was finding where he had gone _to_. Or maybe it would be better if the team just waited for his return. Tracking Robin was as impossible as well…there's really no comparison. It's just impossible.

"Ugh, I want to know what his nightmare was about!" Wally complained as he fell onto the couch. The others followed his lead and sat on the seats surrounding the couch.

"What do you think it could be about?" Superboy asked.

"Not sure."

"What do you know about him?" Megan asked.

"Nothing that could relate to a nightmare. I don't know anything about his past."

"Then maybe we should use his disappearance as an advantage." Aqualad suggested.

"You mean…find out about Robin behind his back?" Wally said.

"Whether or not I like the idea, I do believe if we are thinking about going through with it, now, when Robin is gone, would be the best time." Kaldur said. The heroes looked between each other and then all nodded their heads.

"Then where should we start?" Megan asked.

"We could try searching his room." Wally suggested.

"Isn't that a violation of privacy?" Megan said.

"Everything we're doing is a violation of privacy." Kaldur said.

"Then why are we doing it?" Superboy asked.

"Because I need to know what happened to Robin! I've known him for years, and I know nothing about him!" Wally practically yelled.

"Well, let's start searching." Superboy said. The team stood and walked to Robin's room.

Wally placed his hand on the doorknob and opened the door. "It's not locked?" He said, surprised that Robin wouldn't have a padlock or at least an alarm.

"I guess not." Megan said, not really regarding Wally's question much. She was more amazed with the fact that Robin wouldn't have any security. From what she had observed of the boy, she could tell he was very concerned with everything having high security.

"Should we go in?" Superboy asked. "What if it's a trap or something?"

"I guess we'll just have to take that chance." Kaldur said. The teens walked inside Robin's room, which was pretty plain except for a few posters on one wall.

Miss Martian walked over to the posters and stared at them. One said "Wayne" and had a giant stylized "W" on it. The other one had a picture of a three acrobats on it, a man, woman, and child, but the name of the group was torn off of the poster. "Who are these people?" She asked, referring to the poster of the acrobats.

"I'm not sure." Wally said. He turned his attention to the poster next to it. "But that one is a poster for Wayne Enterprises. It's a corporation in Gotham City run by Bruce Wayne.

"Why would Robin have that in his room...?" Miss Martian asked. Kid Flash's eyes widened. He didn't really want to give away Robin's secret ID without Robin's permission.

"Whoa…" Aqualad said. The others walked over to where he was standing.

"Whoa, that's a lot of weapons…" Superboy said.

"And that's a lot of masks." Wally added.

"Is this his closet?" Megan asked.

"I think so." Wally said while looking around the "closet". "What's this?" He asked, pressing a button that had a bat insignia on it.

"That's the symbol of Batman." Aqualad said.

"What!" Wally screamed. "Oh crap, oh crap, I think I just called Batman! How do I hang up!" He started frantically pressing buttons, which did nothing. Superboy looked over and punched the button, destroying it.

"Well, that ended the call, but it wasn't exactly…subtle." Aqualad said.

"I'm not trying to be subtle!" Superboy yelled.

"Well maybe you _should_ try." Wally suggested.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Superboy shouted.

"Whoa, calm down." Megan said. "We don't want to start a fight in Robin's room. It's already bad enough we broke his button."

"Megan's right." Kaldur started. "We should just find the information we're looking for, and get out of here before Robin returns."

"I wonder where he went." Wally said, mostly to himself.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"No bank robberies, no insane villains, no crime, nothing!" Robin kicked a can as he walked along the sidewalk. The boy was still in his civilian clothes in order to keep from drawing attention to himself. "Well now what am I supposed to do." The boy heard a ringing in his earpiece and answered it. "Batman? What? No-I didn't call you-what? No. Okay, bye."

"I'm not sure what's going on, but maybe I should go back to the cave and find out…" He thought aloud to himself.

"Is that-is that Dick? Hey guys, it's Dick." Some boy said to his two other friends. Robin looked over to see who it was.

"Ah, damn." He said upon seeing who it was. The boys all had black hair, and two of them looked exactly alike. The third one was a little shorter than the other two, but still looked remotely like the twins. They were some bullies from Robin's school who liked to pick fights with him. Usually, Robin would let them win fights in order to keep people from getting suspicious. People had already said he looks a little like Robin. Then others shot those ideas down because Dick was not known for being skilled at well, anything "cool".

"What's with the glasses, Dick? Trying to be cool?" One of the boys said. One of the others reached for his glasses, but Robin instinctively grabbed the boy's arm, stopping him from taking them.

"You been working out, Dick?" The boy taunted. Robin just shot him a glare.

"Ha, like the little nerd would work out." The other boy added.

"Shut up, Roy." Robin said. Roy reached for Robin's collar, and, not wanting to give anything away, Dick allowed the boy to grab his collar and lift him into the air.

"You don't tell me to shut up, got that straight?" The boy said. Robin pretended to look intimidated and nodded his head. "I said, you got that straight?" The boy yelled.

"Yes." Robin slightly hissed.

"Good." The boy said, dropping Robin onto the ground. Dick stood up and began to walk away before one of the other boys spoke. "Now why don't you just run home to your mommy-oh wait, that's right, you don't have a mommy."

Robin turned around and began to run towards the group of boys.

"Oh no, now we're in for it." One of the boys joked. Robin tackled him to the ground and began throwing punches, all of which hit the boy in the face. "Get him off of me! Get him off of me!" The boy frantically yelled.

"Brian!" Roy yelled to his friend. He tried to stop Robin from punching Brian, but when he tried lifting Dick off of him, Roy just received a back-kick to the face. He fell backwards onto the pavement and looked up at the other boy. "Frank, do something!"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Get the little nerd off of my brother!"

"Right." Frank walked over and was able to pull Dick off of Brian, who was now bleeding and had multiple bruises.

"Now you're in for it." Roy said to Robin, who was being held up in the air by his hood by Frank. The boy dropped him and the two others surrounded Dick.

"Please, don't make me laugh." Robin said. Roy tried to punch Robin, but he caught his punch and hurled Roy at Brian, knocking them both over. He then squatted down, extended his leg, and swept Frank. The boys stood up and tried to punch Robin yet again, but he just grabbed the arm of the one who tried to punch him first and swung the boy into the others. The three crashed against a wall and fell onto the ground, all most likely unconscious.

Dick looked over at them and straightened his sunglasses before walking away. Now he _definitely_ wanted to just go back to the cave. He pushed up his sleeve to reveal a mini version of his glove. The small version looked more like a sweatband than it did a glove. The boy pressed one of the buttons, and moments later his R-cycle drove itself to where he was. Robin climbed on and began driving back to Mount Justice.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Guys, what is this?" Megan asked. The four were still searching through Robin's room.

Wally picked up the object and analyzed it. Aqualad and Superboy walked over to see what the object was. "It looks like… a trapeze handle." Wally said.

"Why would Robin have a trapeze?" Aqualad asked. The three others all turned their attention to Kid Flash.

"Why's everyone looking at me! Robin's the detective!"

"But you _are_ the one who has known Robin the longest." Aqualad reminded.

"Yeah, but as you can tell, knowing Robin isn't the same as _knowing_ Robin."

"So you're saying you don't know anything about your best friend." Superboy simplified.

"I know his identity, where he lives, and where he goes to school."

"But you only know the factual information about him, correct?" Aqualad asked.

Wally looked down at the ground, as if he were saddened. "I guess so…"

"It is alright, Wally." Miss Martian said. "Robin appears hard to figure out."

"Uh, why are you guys in my room…?" Robin asked.

"Robin! When did you get back!" Wally asked, practically jumping from the shock.

"Just now…"

"Where have you been?" Aqualad asked.

"I think I should be the one asking questions…" The boy looked around his room. "Ah man, who killed the button?" Robin asked, looking over at his now destroyed button. "That's why Batman called me!"

"Superboy did it!" Wally accused. He attempted to run out of the room, but Robin grabbed his collar before he had the chance.

"You're not going anywhere." Robin pressed a button on his mini-glove and the doors to his room closed and locked. "None of you are until I get some answers." Robin turned towards his friends. "What are you guys doing in my room! And…why do you have my trapeze!" He reached for the trapeze and snatched it out of Miss Martian's hand. He then threw it onto of his bed.

"Dude, why do you have a trapeze?" Wally asked. "That's a little weird."

"That's not the problem right now!" Robin said, avoiding the question. "Why were you guys in my room!"

"We were just trying to help, Robin." Megan said.

"By breaking into my room! What were you even trying to help with!" The boy yelled at Megan.

"Robin, it's not her fault." Aqualad said.

"I'll decide that _after_ you tell me what's going on here!" Robin yelled.

"We wanted to know what your dream was about." Superboy answered.

"So you raided my room…" Robin was clearly a little confused.

"We just wanted to figure out something about your past."

"My past is none of your business." Robin said. He started walking to the door, but Superboy grabbed his arms, restraining the boy so he was unable to move. "Let go of me!"

"Not until _you_ give _us_ some answers." Superboy said.

"Where were you, Robin?" Megan asked.

"I was in Gotham, if you really must know."

"What were you doing in Gotham?" Aqualad asked.

"Nothing."

"Answer the question!" Superboy shouted, increasing his grip on Robin's arms to the point where the boy wanted to scream out in pain.

"Nothing! Now let go of me!" Robin yelled. The boy placed his foot behind Superboy's ankle, and pulled his foot forward so that Superboy fell onto the ground. Dick pressed the button on his glove and his door opened. "Now get out of my room!" He said. Megan, Kaldur, and Superboy all left, but Wally decided to stay and try to talk to him.

"I said, get out!" Robin yelled.

"Robin, I'm sorry about the room thing, but I think you're overreacting."

"You had no right trying to find out about my past! You of all people should know that, Wally!" Robin yelled. The boy looked his friend in the eyes and began to calm down. "Look, I'm keeping my past a secret for your own good. Trust me when I say it's not something that you'd want to know. I just…don't want everyone to think of my differently. And trust me; everyone _would_ treat me different if they knew."

"Robin, I just wanted to-"

"Wally, please just get out of my room." Wally stared at Robin before nodding his head and leaving the boy's room. After Robin closed the door, he sat on down on his bed.

The boy glanced over at his trapeze and picked it up. "It's not 'weird' to want to remember the people you love. The people you know you can never see again, no matter how much you want to…there's nothing 'weird' about it."


	4. Chapter 4

Wally opened his eyes in shock. What was Robin talking about? Remembering the people he loved? What _had_ happened to Robin? Now he really wanted to know.

Wally walked away from Robin's door, quietly, so Robin couldn't hear that Wally had decided to stay and listen to see what the boy would do next. Instead of telling the others his discovery, he just decided to go back to his room. Maybe if Robin's past _did_ have something to do about death, the boy was right to have kept it a secret all these years.

But Wally wouldn't think of him differently if Robin had told him someone he knew had died. If anything, he would think Robin to be stronger than he ever imagined. Being able to laugh even though there was most likely nothing funny about his life…or maybe that's the very reason why Robin always laughed. Maybe he was trying to laugh away the pain. Maybe he was trying to make up for the likely years of lost laughter. Maybe he was just trying to always think about better times. And when the sad thoughts did appear in his mind, maybe he had just learned to laugh them out.

But Wally was thinking about things he had no clue about. He didn't know whose death had occurred, or when. He didn't know how they related to Robin, or if they didn't even. Maybe Robin had just witnessed a death at a young age. But that didn't sound like Robin. He wouldn't react like that unless he had a good reason. It had to have been someone close to him.

The boy entered his room and sat at his desk, in front of his computer. He started typing into his computer "Dick Grayson". A link came up, giving a short bio on the boy along with an image of Robin without his mask, dressed in a dress shirt, dress pants, and blazer.

_Richard (Dick) Grayson-son of Bruce Wayne. Attends Gotham Academy._

Wally scrolled down, expecting to see more, but that's all that was listed. Did Robin hack into this site? Or…was that really all that was known about him? Dick had never mentioned anything about his parents. He had never mentioned _anything_ about himself, though.

He did know Bruce, Batman, was the boy's father, but who was his mother? Did Robin lose his mother? Or was she just not listed? Did he even _have_ a mother? Maybe he was a robot. He did have a way with computers. But-no. Wally had seen his friend bleed. Robots don't bleed. He also knew him well enough to know he had a personality that was too complex for that of a robot. So maybe he was a clone-like Superboy.

Wally shook his head back and forth. No, those were all stupid ideas. The only thing that would make sense is that Robin's mother had died. But…how? That was what he needed to figure out. That was most likely what his nightmare had been about…but was Wally really willing to investigate further about Robin? Especially when the boy had reacted like he had a few minutes ago.

Was Wally really willing to hurt his friend in order to help him? Robin would probably get mad at him, and then straight out ignore him for a few days before finally coming around and talking to him. Even then, he might still be mad that Wally went behind his back even _after _Robin had asked he didn't. But would Robin react the same way? Would he be even more mad the second time it happened? Of course, Wally wouldn't be asking about his past, which was most likely what triggered the boy's anger last time.

Ah! He was doing exactly what he had promised Robin he would never do! Wally was already thinking about his friend differently, and he didn't even know _what_ had happened to Robin yet!

He had to do something to find out though, especially now. Maybe he should talk to Robin…well, not yet. He would give Robin some time to think. After that fight, he was guessing his friend just needed some time.

There was telling the other members of the team, but Wally didn't think they needed to know. He knew Miss Martian and Superboy would probably let the secret lose before the time was right, and that would just end terribly.

There was only one man he could think of going to to talk about this. That man would most likely kill Wally for even thinking about finding out Robin's past. He was tough, but he was always protective of the boy. But, Wally was willing to risk it. If it meant helping his best friend, Wally would be willing to go to Batman.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

How could they do that to him? How could they go behind his back to try finding out about a past he had been trying to forget ever since it happened? He trusted them-they were his team. But, he knew that was a lie.

If he _did_ trust them, they'd know who he was, and they'd know every little detail about his past. But if they trusted _him_, they never would have been sneaking into his room, trying to find clues about his past. This team wasn't much of a team. It was more like a group of misfit teenagers who didn't fit in with society, trying to become heroes. Oh wait, that's exactly what this "team" was.

Maybe it would be for the best if he just left. He could go back to Gotham, and he could be a simple sidekick again. Batman never went behind his back. But Batman knew who he was. In fact, Batman was the very reason his team was acting like this.

It was Batman's fault he couldn't tell his team who he was. It was Batman's fault he was the way he was today. It was Batman's fault…it was Batman's fault he was alive. It was Batman's fault he wasn't roaming the streets, pickpocketing citizens to find enough money to buy a single meal. It was Batman who had saved him. Nothing happening now was Batman's fault-it was all his.

"Why am I such a screw up. Why couldn't I just make myself forget them? That would have been so much easier." The boy glanced down at the trapeze he was still holding. "But I don't want to forget them."

Robin opened a drawer and pulled a piece of paper from it. He walked up to the poster of his parents and him and held the piece of paper to it. "The Flying Graysons."

"Why did you have to leave me? We could still be the Flying Graysons. Didn't you know that I needed you guys? Don't you know I still do need you? I still need you, mom and dad. I still need you." The boy turned to his mirror and walked over to it.

"You're no hero. If you were, your parents would still be alive right now. You could have saved them." Robin said to his reflection. He paused for a second, almost as if he was expecting a reply. "What kind of hero doesn't have powers. What kind of "hero" can't even save the people he loves. You're no hero."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Wally was walking by Robin's room when he heard his friend talking to someone. "Robin? Are you alright?" He asked while knocking on the door. He heard a loud crashing sound, and still revived no reply. "Robin! Robin! Open the door! Are you alright? Robin!" Wally frantically screamed. That was it; he was knocking down the door.

The boy charged top speed towards the door and turned at the last second. The door flew onto the ground, only to reveal Robin sitting on the ground, grasping the sides of his head. But…what was he sitting around? Was that-was that broken glass!

"Robin! What-what happened!" He received no reply.

"You mirror…" Wally said while he glanced around the room. "Robin! You hand!" He turned his attention to Robin's hand. It was covered in crimson liquid. The blood was starting to drip down Robin's arm, showing that the flow was still continuing and the cut was bad-really bad. "We need to get you a band-aid!"

The boy started laughing. "I'm going to need more than a band-aid. I made a mistake, Wally. What kind of a hero makes a mistake? What kind of hero watches people die and can't even do anything about it?"

"Robin, what are you talking about?" Wally asked.

The boy just continued laughing. "Nothing, don't worry about it." He glanced down at his hand. "I feel a little dizzy…" And with that the boy fell over onto the floor.

"Robin! Robin! Guys!" Wally yelled down the hall. "Kaldur, Megan, Superboy!" The boy picked up his friend's unconscious body and ran him down the hall as fast as he could.

Megan practically screamed upon seeing Robin's unconscious, slightly bloody body.

"Kid, what happened to him?" Kaldur asked.

"I don't know! All I know is that we need something to make the bleeding stop."

"I'll go to the infirmary!" Megan said before running down the hall.

"What? We have an infirmary in the base?" Kid Flash asked to no one in particular. "Nevermind. It's not important right now. We need to lessen the bleeding."

"That's why Megan went to get something for it." Superboy said.

"I mean something in the meantime…I know!" Wally shouted. He took off his jacket and tore a section of it off. The boy tied the strip of cloth tightly around his friend's wrist and tightened it by tying a series of knots. "Tourniquet. It won't completely do the job, but it will cut off the circulation to his hand, lessening the bleeding."

"I have found medical bandages!" Megan shouted as she flew into the living room.

"Toss 'em here!" Kid Flash said. Megan tossed him one of the rolls of gauze. Kaldur and Superboy walked over to Robin. "Kaldur, wipe the blood off while I get some gauze ready!"

Aqualad lifted Robin's hand and tore another piece off of Wally's jacket to use as a towel. He wiped the blood off, but the cut only continued to bleed. "I thought you said the tourniquet would cut off circulation!" He yelled at Wally.

"Not all at once!" Wally yelled back. "Did you get the blood off?" Kaldur nodded his head. He walked over to his friend and unrolled some of the gauze. The boy lifted his friend's wrist and began tying the gauze around his hand. "Come on, stop bleeding!"

"Why is he pale?" Superboy asked.

"Oh God, he is!" Wally shouted, realizing that the color in Robin's already pale skin was draining. "Guys, we need help. We need to call Batman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, someone!"

"On it." Kaldur said. He pressed a button on his wrist communicator, calling Batman.

"Aqualad. What is it?" The Dark Knight harshly answered.

"Batman, we appear to have a problem."

"You can handle it."

"No, we can't."

"What happened that you can't handle yourselves?"

"It's Robin." Batman froze.

"I'll be right there."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN**: Wow, 51 reviews…awesome! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I would like to see those people who favorite/followed the story review too, though. I've gotten a lot of emails that say people have favorite my story, but not so many saying people have reviewed. Even if it's just a one word review, I'd still appreciate some comments from other readers :D

Oh, and you can flame if you want. I've been flamed before, and I really don't care much. I find some criticism good in order to develop my writing. Just don't be like "Bad…" and leave it at that. Give a reason if you're going to flame. Uh, enough with that though.

But one last thing before I start the story. Robin is currently wearing his casual clothes. Aka, jacket, shirt, jeans, sneakers, and sunglasses. It's not really important, but I just thought it would help with visualization. Now onto the story. YJ © DC.

"Where's Batman!" Wally yelled. He had been pacing in a circle ever since Aqualad had gotten off the phone with the Dark Knight. If he had been any stronger, or had been using his powers, the floor would have had a large circular trench ground into it.

"He said he'd be here soon." Aqualad answered.

"No, he said he'd be 'right there'. In Batman language, that usually means in about a minute.

"Wally, he was in Gotham. It's going to take him some time to get here." Kaldur said.

"But what if Robin-"

"Don't." Superboy cut off Wally.

"He's going to be alright." Megan assured.

"How do you know that!" Wally yelled.

"Robin's strong. He's been through worse." Batman said in his usual deep and harsh tone.

"Batman!" Wally shouted upon the man's arrival. If the man was anyone but the Dark Knight, Wally would have run up to the man and hugged him. If he hugged Batman, that could end…weirdly. Unless he were Robin. But, Wally wasn't Robin-Robin was laying on the couch, unconscious right now. Judging by what had been going on with the boy lately, Wally was actually pretty happy he wasn't Robin.

The man glanced over at his young ward. He looked so…peaceful. Not dead, but not alive either. Robin looked so innocent. Innocence was a state which definitely did _not_ describe the Boy Wonder. "What happened to him?" Batman's tone of voice had lightened slightly, to the point where it was almost unnoticeable, after he had laid eyes on Robin's unconscious body.

"He went unconscious soon after Kid Flash found him." Kaldur answered.

"Found him…where?" Batman asked, attempting to get a better explanation out of the kids.

"In his room." Kid Flash answered. "There was broken glass all around him, and his mirror was shattered. I'm guessing he broke it by punching it, because his hand was covered in blood."

"Make that, _is_ covered in blood." The Dark Knight said. He had walked over to his young ward and lifted his bandaged hand. "How long ago did you bandage his hand?"

"A few minutes before we called you." Superboy answered.

"There must be glass lodged in his hand. Normally Robin would have stopped bleeding by now if it were just a normal scratch."

"How do we get it out?" Megan asked.

"Until the blood flow slows down or stops, we don't. Taking out the glass will only result in more blood."

"Then what are we supposed to do!" Superboy practically screamed.

"Wait." Batman answered.

"How can you say that!" Superboy yelled.

"I don't mean just wait around and do nothing while he bleeds to death. Take him to the infirmary. Now." Batman ordered. Megan, Superboy, and Kaldur looked between each other for a second before grabbing Robin and running down the hall. "Hook him up to an IV and oxygen." He shouted after them.

The man started to walk down the hall after them, but Wally grabbed his arm and stopped him. The man turned his attention to the boy, who had released his grip on Batman.

"Look, I know everyone's pretty worked up right now, but I really need to talk to you, Bruce." Wally said. Batman froze upon hearing the boy speak his name. His _real_ name.

"How do you know my name." He more stated than asked.

"Dick told me. He told me his name too. But…he didn't tell me anything about his past. Bruce, that nightmare he had; it's messing with his head. I'm not sure exactly what's happening, but I know this isn't Robin."

"When did he tell you."

"A while ago. Few months? I don't know exactly."

Batman shook his head and groaned. He had taught Robin better than to reveal his identity to anyone. Though, Wally wasn't exactly just _anyone_, Wally was the boy's best friend. Perhaps a _slight_ exception could be made…just once.

"Now to the _actual_ problem at hand." Batman said. "Dick's been acting different, I realize this. He does it every so often, but never with such…drastic effects."

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't his first nightmare on the matter."

"And what exactly is 'the matter'?"

"That, I'll leave for either you to figure out or for you to ask Robin about. If he wants you to know, he'll tell you."

"He didn't tell me last time I asked."

"Did you have the entire team with you?"

"Yeah, but I don't see what difference that makes."

"Robin doesn't trust people easily. Perhaps that's my fault…but blame aside, it takes a while for him to open up. He's just so happened to place enough trust in you to let you know his secret ID, so maybe he trusts you enough to let out his past too."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then he doesn't. Think nothing of it."

"But I can't just think nothing of it. Rob's my best friend."

"Look, if it were your secret, trust me-you wouldn't really want anyone knowing. Not even your closest friend. Especially not if you're Robin."

"Why does being Robin change anything?"

"Besides the fact that we're talking about Robin, and he's the one who's been having troubles lately, Robin's just…different. He forces himself to externally act strong and always be together even when inside he's falling apart." Bruce placed his hand on the boy's shoulder before continuing. "Wally, eventually, he will tell you. Just…give him some time. Now if you want to prove you're close enough to him that he'll tell you his past, you should probably start by being with him while he's recovering."

Batman continued walking down the hall, and Wally just followed, silently, behind the Dark Knight. When the two arrived, they discovered that the others already had hooked Robin up to an IV and oxygen, just as Batman had ordered. The boy was laying on a medical table, still unconscious, but the color was slowly returning to his face and body.

The man walked up to his ward and held his hand to the boy's wrist-the one not covered in bandage. "His pulse is almost regular, surprisingly.

Wally walked over to his friend and looked down at his unconscious body. "What do we do now?"

"We wait." Batman answered.

Half an hour after passed, and the team was getting a little tired. Wally glanced over at the clock and noticed it was past midnight. Batman had been called away on a mission, but he refused to go. He knew Robin needed him more than the rest of the world right now. The rest of the world had the entire Justice League. Robin-Robin only had him.

More time passed, and it was around one o'clock in the morning. Superboy and Megan had gone to their rooms to go to sleep a few minutes ago. Kaldur, Wally, and Batman were the only ones still in the infirmary.

"Is he going to be alright?" Kaldur asked.

"He'll be fine." Batman answered.

"He's been out for a few hours." Wally noted.

"He stopped bleeding a few hours ago, too." Batman pointed out.

"Should we remove the glass?" Kaldur asked.

"Let's wait till morning for that." Bruce said. "You two should probably get some rest."

Kaldur nodded and left the room. Wally just stayed where he was. "Bruce, I need to stay here-with him."

"Pull up a chair." Batman told the boy, who returned the man's kind gesture with a smile. "Make that two, I'm staying."

Kid Flash walked over to the closet and carried out two chairs. He gave one to Bruce, who placed the chair next to the hospital bed Robin was lying on. Wally then took his chair and pulled it next to Bruce's before sitting down. The two just silently stared at the boy for a few minutes before either said anything.

Surprisingly, Bruce was the one who broke the silence. "So…how are you related to Flash?"

"How are you related to Robin?" Kid Flash asked.

"Parental figure." Batman answered. Wally waited for him to elaborate before realizing that he was Batman. He wasn't going to elaborate. The boy should be happy he even got an answer out of the man.

"Nephew."

"Barry's your uncle?"

"Barry's my uncle." Kid Flash answered. The two continued to watch Robin in awkward silence.

"He's going to be alright, right?" Wally asked.

"I already told you, Robin's going to be just fine." Batman answered.

"Why don't you sound worried?"

"I'm worried, I'm just not _that_ worried. Sure he's hurt, but that's just it. Robin's not on his death bed."

"You have a point, but…I don't know. I've never seen Robin like that before. Just…broken."

"Physically or emotionally?"

"Both, but mainly emotionally."

"There's a lot Dick keeps hidden. He keeps it all inside, most of it in places even he forgets about."

"Why?"

"Like I said before; he's different. And…he's been through a lot. I know from experience that trying to forget is hard. Especially when you really don't want to forget."

"What do you mean?" Wally asked.

"Seeing…death at an early age can be frightening and overwhelming. And those feelings don't go away unless you have someone to talk with about those problems," Batman's eyes widened slightly as he realizes what he was saying. "…and I've never been one to talk about emotions with." The man said under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Bruce answered. The man proceeded to elbow Wally when he noticed Robin starting to move. "Look."

Wally stood up and looked at his best friend just in time to see his arm move. Robin's eyes slowly began to flutter open. "Wally? Wha-what happened?" Robin asked. The boy just stared at his friend while the younger boy sat up slightly.

Wally smiled at his friend before he let a small tear escape his eye. To most people, the tear wouldn't have been noticeable, but Wally could tell Robin saw by the smile that lit up the boy's face.

Suddenly, Wally took his hand and smacked Dick against the back of his head.

"Ow!" Dick yelled as he placed his hand against the back of his head. "What was that for!"

"Don't you ever do that again, you idiot!" Wally said. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his best friend, holding the younger boy close against his chest. Wally could feel a few tears escape his eyes and flow down his face, but he didn't care. If he looked weak, so what? He just found out his best friend wasn't going to die. If that's not something to be happy about, the speedster didn't know what was.

"I'll try not to." Robin said while weakly laughing. "No promises, though."

"I'm glad you're okay, Dick." Batman said.

"Batman, you just called me, uh…by my name…in front of him…" Robin said, confused.

"I know you told him our IDs." Batman said.

"Oh, haha, sorry about that." Robin apologized.

"It's okay, Dick. Just don't let it happen twice." Batman said. Robin tried to nod to show he understood, but nodding your head is a little hard when your best friend is basically hugging you to death. Batman's communicator wrung and he stepped out of the room to answer it. Once he reentered the room, he decided it was time to return to his job. "I should take this. I'll leave you two to catch up." The man said before walking out of the room, into the hallway.

"Uh, Wally, you can let go of my now." Robin said.

"Oh, right." Wally said as he released his grip on the boy. The speedster started to wipe the tears off his face and eyes. Robin raised an eyebrow at his friend, who began to blush.

"Didn't mean to make you cry, dude." Robin said.

"You didn't make me cry."

"Then why are your eyes and your face wet and tearstained?" Robin smirked.

"I just got something in my eye."

The younger boy let out a small laugh before responding. "Yeah right."

"Dude, shut up." Wally lightly smacked his friend on the forehead. Robin tried to stop him before he made contact, but the boy was too out of it right now. "Whoa, did I just land a punch on **the** Boy Wonder?"

"Now it's your turn to shut up." Robin said. He attempted to sit up in order to gain some height on his friend, but once he put weight on his hand, he winced in pain.

"Are you okay?" Wally asked his friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Robin said. He tried to sit up again, but only winced in pain once more. Wally grabbed his friend's good arm and helped the boy up. Once Robin was sitting up, he was able to easily climb off the hospital bed and stand up.

"You sure you're alright?" Wally asked.

"Yeah, my hand hurts, but other than that, I'm just fine."

"What happened to your hand anyway?"

"Punched my mirror."

"Well I figured that out. What I want to know is why."

"Got tired of looking at myself."

"Huh, if I were you, I'd break a mirror instead of looking at myself too." Wally teased.

"Shut up." Robin said. He punched his friend in the shoulder, but forgot to only use his good hand. The boy screamed in pain before gripping his other hand around his bad one.

"How bad is it?" Wally asked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen it." Robin began to unwrap his hand. Slowly, the cut was revealed. After all the bandage was off, he two boys looked at Robin's hand. Wally had to cover his mouth in order to keep himself from either screaming or throwing up. He couldn't really tell which at the moment.

"Is that…muscle?" Wally asked, still covering his mouth. This time, he knew it was to keep from throwing up.

"And that's…glass. Great, I have glass stuck in my hand."

"And your muscle. Is. Showing." Wally said. Robin took the bandage and rewrapped his hand.

"Yeah, it actually doesn't feel as bad as it looks though. Guess that's good, because it looks terrible." Robin waited for his friend to say something. Suddenly, he heard a loud thud. He glanced over to where Wally was once standing, only to see that the boy was now laying on the floor. He had fainted. Robin just laughed before tapping Wally's side with his foot.

"Wally…wake up, Wally." Dick repeated as he lightly kicked his friend's side.

"Would you stop that!" Wally yelled as he awoke. He grabbed his friend's ankle and pulled the Boy Wonder onto the ground. Robin fell very ungracefully and with a loud thud, just as his friend had recently fallen.

"Um, **ow**!" Robin yelled. The boy rolled onto his back and laid next to his friend.

"So, I never let you finish; why'd you do it?" Wally asked.

"Do what?"

"Punch the mirror. I didn't think you were one to commit suicide."

"I wasn't trying to kill myself."

"Then…why'd you do it?"

"I'm not a hero, Wally."

"What?"

"I'm not a hero. I don't have powers. I'm just…Robin."

"You're the Boy Wonder! You don't need powers!" Wally said.

"Heroes need powers, Wally."

"You are a hero, Rob. Powers or no powers."

"Heroes don't just sit on the sidelines while they watch their parents die!" Robin screamed as he jolted upright.

"Robin…what are you talking about?"

"I think it's time you knew, Wally."

"Knew what?"

"Wally…I'm an orphan." Robin said. The moment he heard those words, Wally could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. Robin, Dick, his best friend was…an orphan! But he always seemed so…strong, so together. But that's just what Batman had said. Robin was strong on the outside, even when he was in pieces _inside_.

"You're a…what?" Wally asked, too shocked to say anything else. "Robin, no…"

"It's okay, Wally. I've had enough time to get used to it."

**AN**:

So I know it seems like this story is coming to an end, but trust me; it isn't. I still have a sort of second plot line planned out in my head. It'll probably come into play within the next few chapters. Like always, Review…please? xD


	6. Chapter 6

**AN**:

I actually wrote this immediately after I wrote chapter five, but I had some wifi troubles. Turns out my neighbors put a new password on it -_-

If only I were Robin…I could just hack it. Oh, and someone commented something about Superboy being able to hear the commotion and coming in the room. I always pictured the infirmary to be on the opposite side of the base from all the rooms, so I just pictured him being too far away to hear the noise. Anyway, I'll just get to the story now. This chapter has some OOC-ness. YJ © DC.

"You're an orphan? Robin…how?" Wally asked. He was still lying on the floor beside his best friend.

"Well, my parents died. Simple as that."

"H-how?" Wally stuttered, still shocked by what Robin had just revealed to him.

"I…I don't really want to talk about it right now." Robin gently said. The boy felt tears welding up in his eyes. _Shit, I am __**not **__going to cry. Not in front of Wally. Just stay together, Dick. Keep it together._

"You sure?" Wally asked.

"No." Robin knew that if he continued to explain, he only ran the risk of crying and seeming weak in front of his best friend, but he really just wanted to talk things out right now.

"Was that a yes, I'm sure I don't want to talk about it right now, or a maybe?"

"That's a maybe." Robin said. "It's just…Bruce has never been able to replace them."

"Why do you want him to?"

"I just always thought that since he was technically my new father, he should fill the place of my…other father."

"Did Bruce adopt you?" Wally asked.

"Yeah."

"When?"

"I was nine."

Wally just froze. "You were-you were nine when your parents died?"

Robin hesitated before answering, but eventually did. "Yeah…"

"Why didn't you ever tell me? I could have helped you cope through it."

"I don't need your help!" Robin yelled. The boy launched his body in the air so he was now standing. Wally followed his friend's action, but used his hands to prop himself up.

"I think you do. You need someone's help."

"I'm fine on my own. I've always been fine on my own." Robin said as he leaned against the wall and carefully crossed his arms so he wouldn't hit his damaged hand.

"No, I don't think you are. I think you need someone."

"Shut up! Just shut up! I've always been fine, Wally!"

"You call _this_ 'fine'! Robin, you almost killed yourself!"

"Shut up!" Robin screamed. He could feel the tears about to come through his glasses and drip down his face.

"Just telling me to shut up isn't going to do anything! You can't solve your problems by ignoring them!"

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"Oh don't I?"

"You don't know what it's like going through life without anyone to hold onto!" Robin said. The boy felt more tears welding up in his eyes, but did nothing to stop them. "I miss them, Wally..."

The boy froze after hearing his friend's confession. That was the first time he had ever heard…weakness, vulnerability, in his friend's voice. Robin sounded like he was really in pain, and that he was on the verge of tears.

"What are you talking about?"

"They left me, Wally. They left me all alone." Robin said. The boy felt a tear fall from his eye, and before Wally could see it, he had collapsed onto his knees. The boy covered his face with his hands in an effort to hide his tears.

He heard Wally fall onto the ground, and felt his friend's hand on his back. Robin shrugged his friend's hand off but was careful to keep his hands over his eyes.

"Rob, talk to me." Wally pleaded.

"What do you want me to say? I'm alone? That's all there is to say."

"You're not alone Robin, you-"

"Have friends? Yeah, friends that go behind my back to find out things I really don't want them to know!"

"Robin, I'm sorry," Wally grabbed Robin's arm and tried to lower it from the boy's face, but only received an elbow to the gut. "Stop it already! I'm trying to help you but you're just cutting me off! I can't help you if you won't talk!"

"I don't need help!"

"Yeah, because you're just perfectly fine!"

"Just shut up!" Robin yelled, still talking through his hands.

"No, we are **not** doing this again!" Wally yelled. He used his super speed to pull Robin's hands away from his face before the boy could do anything to stop him. The boy tried to place his hands back over his face, but Wally just held his friend's hands behind his back.

"Get off me!" Robin yelled. He began struggling to get Wally off of his hands, but was unable to. Every time he shook his friend off, the speedster only used his superior speed to place the boy's hands back behind his back. Tired of their fight, Wally ran to the closet and found some string. He used his super speed once again to tie the younger boy's hands behind his back, being careful of the boy's injured hand.

"Stop it! Just stop!" Robin yelled as he struggled to get free.

"I'm trying to help you!"

"All you're doing is embarrassing me!"

"How the hell am I embarrassing you!"

"I don't talk about things! I don't show feeling, and you're forcing me to!" Robin yelled. He felt more tears come to his eyes, and now that he didn't have his hands to cover his face, he made an even greater effort to hold the tears back.

"Maybe if you _did_ show feeling, things like this wouldn't happen!"

"Things like what! Your best friend treating you like dirt!"

Robin tried struggling again, but only felt his friend's hands grip his arms. Knowing Wally was behind him, Dick began kicking at his friend, but was unable to match Wally's super speed.

"And now you're trying to kick me. Unbelievable."

"What do you want me to do! Just sit here and do nothing!"

"I don't know. Maybe you could try not acting like a five-year-old." Robin flipped his body over to try kicking his friend in the face, but Wally just moved out of the way.

"_I'm_ acting like a five-year-old! You're the one that tied my hands behind my back!"

"I just did it because you didn't want to talk about your feelings!"

"And now you're using the word 'feelings'…"

"You're already mad at me, right?" Wally asked as something clicked in his mind.

"What the hell do you think!" Robin yelled in return.

"Then I guess it wouldn't make any difference if I did this."

"Did what?" Before Robin even finished his question, Wally had reached for his friend's sunglasses. Robin was able to move his body before his "friend" made contact with them. "Stop it!" Robin yelled. Wally just reached for his friend's glasses again. This time, the boy was successful. He pulled the glasses off of his friend's face and placed them on the hospital bed. Before Wally could get a glimpse of his friend's eyes, Robin had turned back over onto his stomach in order to hide his face.

"Would you just stop it already! Wally, just stop! Please…just stop." Robin said. The thirteen-year-old couldn't hold the tears back any longer, and felt streams of warm water fall down his face. He started sniffling slightly, which led Wally to turn Robin's body over onto his back.

The moment he saw his best friend, all the anger Wally previously felt towards his friend ceased. Robin's eyes were…bright blue. They were a beautiful color, but sadly, they were also red and puffy. _I…I made him cry? What kind of a friend am I?_ "Robin, I-I didn't mean to make you cry."

"Y-you didn't m-make me cry." Robin tried saying. His voice was muffled from the tears and the lump in his throat.

"Would you stop denying everything already?" Wally was tempted to yell again, but instead gently asked his question. "I was just trying to help."

"You call _this _helping!" Robin asked. "I'm laying on the floor, hands tied behind my back, in tears, eyes exposed. How do you even consider this helping."

"I'm just trying to talk to you without you running away for once. You need to realize you can't always run away from your problems. Eventually, they _will_ catch up to you."

"Fine. If you want to talk, I honestly don't think I can 'run away' this time. At least, not with my hand like this."

"You wrapped it back up."

"Yeah, but it still hurts, idiot." Robin said, slightly laughing. The boy glanced up at his older friend. "Um…can you help me get off the ground? I would do it myself, but I don't want to hurt my hand again."

"Sure." Wally grabbed his friend's waist and picked the boy up. After being helped to stand up, Robin jumped up onto the hospital bed. He sat on the bed and hung his feet over the edge, allowing them to swing back and forth.

"Rob, I-I'm sorry." Wally apologized.

"You don't have to apologize." Robin said.

"Yes, yes I do. I'm sorry for that. I-I don't know what came over me. I guess I just got tired of you always running away and disappearing, and I was so worried. When you tried to ignore me and run away from your problems, I guess I just…lost it."

"It's okay, Wally. Really, it's alright."

"Can you just answer me one question?" Wally asked.

"That depends; can I have my glasses and hands back?"

"Sure." Wally said. He picked up the glasses and placed them on his friend's face before untying the boy's hands.

"Shoot."

"What?" Wally asked.

"What did you want to ask me?" Robin asked.

"Um…what exactly was your nightmare about?" Wally heard Dick gulp. It took the younger boy a few minutes, but eventually he answered.

"I saw them, Wally."

"What?"

"I saw them die."

"You were…there when your parents died!"

"Yeah, I was there. And, I've tried and tried to stop remembering the scene…the looks of fear on their faces, the look of fear and horror, and…weakness on my face, but I just can't do it, Wally." Robin's voice cracked as he began crying once again, the tears flowing down the boy's face like a waterfall. "I-I can't forget a-anything about t-that day."

"Robin," Wally lifted himself up onto the bed so he was sitting next to Dick. "It's okay. You're strong. You can get through this."

"I-It's been f-four years. And…I'm n-not strong. Just l-look at me."

"Robin, seeing you now just makes me see exactly how strong you are." Wally wrapped his arm around his best friend's shoulders, pulling the boy against his chest. "The fact that you're still here is enough proof for anyone. Most people would have killed themselves by now from all the confusion and pain."

Robin and Wally sat and enjoyed the silence for a few moments. Every once in a while, Robin would let out a gasp from trying to contain his tears. For the first time in his life since the event, the Boy Wonder was actually letting everything out.

"This is the first time in four years I've cried in front of someone." Robin said.

"You haven't cried in four years?"

"Not around other people."

"Not even Bruce?"

"Batman was always too busy when I was growing up. I'm sure he wanted to help me, but he was always just too busy and…I don't really think he knew how to."

"I'm sure he did all he knew how to, Rob."

"Yeah…I'm sure he did too. It just…wasn't quite enough."

"Well, now you have Bruce _and_ me." Wally said.

Robin let out a chuckle. "And what exactly are you doing?" He joked.

"Shut up." Wally said as he ruffled his friend's hair.

"I thought you told me not to say that?" Dick said as he smirked.

"I already said I was sorry!" Wally defended. He threw his hands into the air to add drama.

"Yeah…I miss them so much." Robin said. His tears that had halted momentarily once again continued to flow. Robin pressed his forehead against Wally's chest and the older boy patted his friend's back in an effort to comfort him.

"It's okay to miss them. It's okay to cry, Robin."

"It's…weird."

"What?"

"I've never needed to be comforted before. It's just kinda weird. I feel so…vulnerable."

"It's okay to feel emotionally exposed and overwhelmed every once in a while. It's healthy to let your emotions out, Robin."

"I guess so. It's just so different."

"It'll take a while to get used to, but…I'm always here if you need me, Robin." Kid wrapped his arms around the younger boy and pulled him into a hug. Robin wrapped his arms around his friend in return, and Wally felt his friend's warm tears soaking into his shirt. "I'll always be here for you."

**AN**:

So I know Wally and Robin were a little bit OOC and it was a little bipolar, but I just liked how this chapter played out. It's probably going to be one of the fluffiest chapters in this story. Fluff isn't really my thing, but I just thought this chapter played out pretty well. Oh, and this story is **not** a slash. Just making that clear. Some parts of this chapter could be taken in that context, but I don't really focus on slashes in my stories. Like always, review please :D


	7. Chapter 7

**AN**:

Alright, first time in a long time I've gotten writer's block. I guess it wasn't that bad though, because it only lasted three days. And in those three days, I wrote a one shot, so…I don't even know if that's considered writer's block. Whatever. All I know is that I finally have a plot line plotted out for this story. Until now, I've just been writing as I go, but now I know exactly where I want to go with this. And I had one review ask me how many chapters are left. I have to admit-I honestly have no clue. At least over five, maybe over ten. I'm really not sure at this point, sorry! Anyway, I'll stop with the blabbing and just get on with the story. YJ © DC

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Thank you, Wally. It actually means a lot to know that." Robin said.

Wally listened to his best friend sniffling to catch his breath and tears. Had Robin not been his best friend, he would have actually considered the boy cute at the moment. He felt Robin's arms wrap around his back, pulling Wally closer. The younger boy pushed his face further into the older's chest and continued to cry. Wally looked down at his best friend in disbelief for a moment before caressing the boy's back.

Robin had never been a "touchy-feely person", so his act of embrace surprised Wally.

"You okay, Rob?" Wally asked his friend.

Robin glanced up at his older friend. "Not really, but I guess I'm fine."

"You want to talk about it more?"

"I guess I could try." Robin said. He released his grip on his friend and moved so he was sitting beside the boy. He wiped his eyes and tried to make himself stop crying. "I'm not used to talking things out. What now?"

Wally couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "What's so funny?" Robin asked, sounding both a little annoyed and a little surprised.

"You just sound so…naïve."

"Oh, _thanks_." Robin said while rolling his eyes. "But…I'm serious. What now?"

"Well, I'm not sure if you want to answer this or not, but just try to." Robin looked at his friend nervously before nodding his head. "What happened on that day?" The moment Wally asked, he heard Robin starting to breathe heavily, attempting to contain his tears. "Rob, it's okay to cry."

The younger boy took off his sunglasses and placed them beside him. He proceeded to burst into tears and cover his face with his hands. "T-they fell. And I-I saw their b-bodies." He stuttered trying to talk through his tears. "They w-were covered in b-blood."

Wally's eyes widened in horror. "What do you mean they fell?"

"T-they were a-acrobats."

"The trapeze…" Wally thought aloud. He looked down at his friend who was nodding in agreement. "And I called it weird…Robin, I'm so sorry, I didn't know that's where the trapeze was from."

"I-it's okay. I just…n-need to remember t-them."

"How did they fall?"

"M-murdered."

"What?" Wally asked, completely shocked.

"I-I'm sorry. I d-don't really f-feel like talking a-about it right n-now."

"It's okay, Robin. You don't have to if you don't want to." He reached around his best friend's shoulder and pulled the younger boy against his chest once again. Robin buried his face in Wally's chest and continued to cry.

After a few minutes, Wally noticed Robin's gasping had stopped, which most likely meant the boy had stopped crying. Wally looked down and saw that his best friend had fallen asleep against his chest. Wally placed his hand under Robin's head for support as he stood up. He gently laid his friend on the hospital bed, being careful not to wake him. Once Robin was laying down, Wally started walking to the door. He stopped when he heard Robin say something.

"W-Wally?" The younger boy asked. Wally looked back at his friend and saw that he was still asleep. Did Batman really train him well enough to hear that well while he was asleep?

He walked over to his friend and sat back down in the chair beside the hospital bed. Sure the chair was hard and he was most likely going to have a back-ache in the morning, but if it meant helping his best friend, Wally would do anything for Robin.

He allowed himself to drift off into a light sleep, making sure he could hear Robin if the boy called for him during the night.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

In the morning, Robin awoke to see his friends all standing in the room he was in. He quickly shut his eyes, grabbed his glasses, and placed them over his eyes before any of his friends noticed he was awake. After Robin reached for his glasses, they all realized he was awake and directed their attention to the boy.

"How are you feeling?" Kaldur asked.

"Better." He replied, looking over at Wally. That talk he had with Wally really did make him feel better. While it was strange for Robin to actually let out his emotions in front of people, he had to admit he felt a lot better after he did. He also knew Wally well enough to know he wouldn't hold the experience over his head.

"Glad to hear that." Megan said while smiling.

"How's your hand?" Superboy asked.

"It still hurts, but its better." Robin answered.

"Does it look any better?" Kaldur asked.

Wally visibly shuttered after hearing Kaldur's question, which caused Robin to begin lightly cackling. "What do you think, Wally? Does it look any better?" Robin teased his best friend.

"Not cool dude." Wally replied.

"What? It was just a simple question." Robin said while smirking.

Though he was glad to see Robin acting like his old joking self, Wally couldn't help but feel that it was all just an act. After he had seen Robin just…completely **break**, the boy couldn't help but wonder if that's what Robin was _always_ feeling on the inside. Batman said Robin always kept it together on the _outside_. So, what if Robin's whole cheery, joking around persona was just an act to keep everyone from worrying about him?

"Yeah, yeah." Wally said while walking over to his best friend and ruffling his hair.

"Do you feel like getting up?" Kaldur asked Robin.

"Yeah, I can stand." Robin said. The Boy Wonder shifted himself so his legs were leaning off the edge of the hospital bed, before letting his feet hit the ground. He hesitated for a second after hitting the ground, but Wally caught him before he fell.

"You okay, Rob?" Wally asked while holding his best friend around his shoulders to keep him up.

"Yeah." Robin said, shaking Wally off and standing up. "I'm fine. So, what are we doing?" Robin asked.

"_They're _training. _You're_ not." Black Canary said as she walked in the room.

"Rob's not training with us?" Wally asked.

"No. Not until his hand heels." Black Canary said. "Now why don't you four go ahead to the training room. I'll meet you there in a minute."

Robin and Black Canary stood in place as they watched the rest of the team leave the room and start walking down the hall. After they left, Black Canary turned to look at Robin. She placed her hand on his shoulder before talking. "You okay?" She asked. "How's your hand looking?"

"Well, it's bad enough to make Flash Boy faint." Robin said.

"Flash Boy?" Black Canary asked while smirking.

"People call him Flash Boy all the time. He gets pretty mad if you call him that."

"That _could_ come in handy…" She said, causing Robin to laugh. "Good to see you're feeling better. Now, care to tell me why your face is tear-stained?"

"W-what?" Robin asked. His eyes widened beneath his shades.

"Next time you cry, make sure you wipe off your face." Black Canary looked down at Robin and saw the boy was lightly blushing, so she decided to change the subject. "How about we change the bandaging on your hand?"

"We could try getting the glass out." Robin said. He was thankful that she decided to change the subject before pursuing the tear matter any further. How she noticed that, the boy would never know. It wasn't _that_ obvious…was it?

Robin walked to one of the sinks and looked at the mirror. "How did you know I was crying?" He asked Black Canary.

"It's all over your face."

"Where?"

"So the Boy Wonder doesn't know how to tell if someone's been crying?" She asked. "Guess Batman didn't teach you that. Allow me." She stood next to Robin and pointed directly below his eye. "You have dark circles under your eyes. When a person's been crying, they look different than usual eye bags. Not to mention that your eyes have stains from dried water below them."

"Well…do you think anyone noticed?" Robin asked.

"No, I don't think they picked it up." Black Canary reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a roll of gauze. "The question is; why do you care?"

"I just…don't want them worrying."

"About…?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Robin lied. He started to unwrap his hand to distract the woman from probing him any further. The cut looked just as bad as it did when Wally fainted from seeing it the night before.

"That needs stitches." Black Canary said upon seeing the boy's cut.

"I know. But first; the glass needs to come out. That's going to be painful." Robin shuttered at the thought of the glass being pulled out from his hand.

"That…will require surgery." Black Canary said. "I'll be right back." She exited the room and Robin heard her footsteps fade as she walked down the hall. The boy turned on the sink and splashed some water on his face, following Canary's advice on how to get the tear-stains off of his face.

When Black Canary returned a few minutes later, Robin started to laugh as he saw Wally walk in with her. "You want _him_ to perform surgery on me!"

"No. I brought _him_ to talk with _before _surgery." Black Canary said. "I called an actual surgeon to perform surgery on you."

"I can stitch it myself. I've done it before." Robin said.

"What about the glass?" Black Canary asked.

"I could probably pull that out."

"_Without_ bleeding to death?" Canary said.

"Probably not…"

"Then you see my point. I'll leave you two alone now. I'll be back when the surgeon gets here." Black Canary said before exiting the room once again.

"So, how are the nerves?" Wally asked.

"I'm doing alright. I've never had a surgeon perform surgery on me, though. It's always been either I perform surgery on myself or Batman patches me up-I've never had some random stranger do it for me. Sounds a little unreliable."

"I've had surgery before. A lot of people have. Most of them survive." Wally said, trying to encourage his friend.

"_Most_?" Robin asked, looking a little concerned. "And the others?"

"Let's not go into that topic." Wally said. The boy nervously laughed, and Robin followed his best friend's lead. "It's not like it's heart surgery though. It's just your hand. I've never heard of anyone dying from hand surgery."

"People die from _bee stings_ all the time. I'm having someone with a scalpel cutting into my hand to remove a piece of glass. What if they cut my vein and couldn't fix it?"

"Rob, that's not going to happen-you're psyching yourself out. They're not going to get some random hobo off the street to perform surgery on you-The League will find a professional to do it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks, Wally." Robin said. He smiled at his friend, who happily returned the gesture.

"You're not going to love hearing this," Black Canary said while walking into the room. "But the surgeon's here."

A man who looked to be in his lower thirties entered the room behind Black Canary. He had short black hair, pale skin, and a round face. He was only a few inches taller than Wally. Then man wore a white lab coat overtop what appeared to be a collared white shirt, and black pants. "Robin, this is Dr. Miller."

"Nice to meet you." The doctor said. He held out his hand for Robin to shake. The boy grabbed the doctor's hand with his non-injured hand and shook it. "How about you show me your other hand?"

Robin lifted his injured hand and the doctor grabbed the boy's wrist so he was holding Robin's hand to his face. "How exactly did you do this? There's glass lodged in this cut."

"I punched my mirror." Robin explained.

"Why?" The doctor asked.

Robin looked at Wally before answering. He remembered the talk he had with Wally. His friend had proven he was just as much of a hero as anyone on the team. He also helped Robin realize that it's okay to miss the people you love and let it all out. Most importantly, Wally let Robin know that although he no longer had his parents to support and comfort him, the young boy still had his team-no, his _friends_. They would be there when he needed them to be. He had Aqualad, Megan, Superboy…Wally, and Bruce. They would be there for him no matter what.

For the first time in his life since the accident, Robin realized that he had a family. Sure they weren't his "real" family, but they were just as good. They loved him, and they would do anything for him.

"Why did I punch my mirror?" Robin asked. The doctor nodded his head before Robin continued. "I have to admit, I honestly don't know anymore." Robin smiled and looked over at his best friend. "I thought I was alone, but…I'm not."

**AN**:

Yeah, so that chapter was mainly fluffy filler chapter, but it's leading into the next plot point of the story. The reason I've been updating slowly is because I'm playing the keyboard for my school musical, and everyday I've been having rehearsal until 8 PM. The play performance is next weekend, so after that I should start updating every other day like I was when I started this story. Until then, I'm sorry, but expect slower updates, usually one every three-four days. Please keep reviewing though, and I'll try to keep updating regularly.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN**:

I'm done with the fluff filled chapters for a little while, and now the story's going back into the angst department. More than it was before the fluffy chapters too. If you're a fan of the fluff, don't worry; it will return. Just…not for a while. Oh, and the musical is called "Children of Eden". It's by Stephen Schwartz, the same man who wrote the lyrics for, and composed, "Wicked". Anyway…YJ © DC.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"So…how are you getting the glass out?" Robin asked. He was sitting on the hospital bed, and the doctor was getting some of his equipment together. Black Canary had left with Wally a few minutes ago because she thought he would distract the doctor while he was performing surgery. She was probably right…

"Cutting a few incisions around it, then pulling it out." Doctor Miller answered.

"Are you applying stitches afterward?" Robin asked.

"Yes, but they don't hurt that much. Don't be worried." The doctor said.

"Oh, I've had stitches before. I've actually stitched my own wounds a lot." Robin said.

"Interesting." The doctor was too busy sanitizing his equipment to really pay attention to Robin at the moment. "So…where'd you get the name Robin?" He asked, most likely not out of curiosity, but just to break the awkward silence.

"Oh, uh, you know; parents." Robin stuttered out. He was hoping the doctor wouldn't question him any further.

Luckily, the doctor just nodded his head. The man walked over to the boy and asked him to talk off his jacket and lay down on the hospital bed. Once Robin took off his jacket, the doctor took the boy's hand and tied a tourniquet around it. He then connected an IV to Robin's wrist and connected the boy to a heart monitor.

"Once the circulation to your hand lessens, I'll begin the surgery." Dr. Miller explained. "I'm going to give you a shot to knock you out." The doctor pulled a needle from his lab coat that was connected to a tube filled with a clear liquid.

"What? Why?" Robin asked.

"Because it _will _hurt if you're conscious during the surgery."

"I can handle pain." Dr. Miller rolled his eyes before grabbing the boy's arm and injecting the shot into Robin's arm. "Wh-why d-" Robin mumbled. Within a few seconds, the boy's heart rate slowed down slightly, showing he had gone unconscious. The doctor pulled a scalpel from his lab coat and began operating on Robin's hand.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

_W-what just happened? Wait-where am I? _The boy looked around him and saw nothing. All that was there was just white space. Suddenly, color started falling from the sky and falling onto the white surfaces.

Robin's eyes widened in horror as he saw what the blank canvas had become-it was a circus tent. _Not again. No! This can't be happening again! _

"But it is, little Richard."

"Who's there!" Robin yelled.

"No one special." The voice answered. Before his eyes, Robin saw the circus tent morph. He was suddenly standing on top of one of the platforms the trapeze artists used. He turned his attention to the platform across from his. The boy squinted his eyes and noticed that his parents were standing on the other platform.

"No! Mom! Dad! Don't jump!" Robin yelled.

His mother suddenly appeared on the platform beside him. Robin reached out to grab her hand, but his hand went right through her. The boy watched in terror as his mother grabbed a trapeze that appeared out of thin air and swung to the other platform. His father then grabbed onto the trapeze in front of the platform he was on, and swung as well.

Before either could react, Robin saw the strings to the trapezes give way and watched as his parents fell to their deaths. "No! This isn't happening again! No!" He jumped off the platform before they hit the ground and pulled his grappling hook from his utility belt, but before he could reach them, he appeared back on the platform. "What? What just happened?"

Looking down, the boy saw his parents' bodies. Blood was leaking from them and the ground beneath was turning red. Robin glanced to the side and saw none other than Tony Zucco. He was holding a knife in one hand and the end of the trapeze string in the other.

"You!" Robin shouted. He pulled one of his batarangs from his utility belt and threw it, but instead of flying toward Zucco, it just fell. He threw another, but it did the exact same thing as the last one.

"Now, now, Richard. You can't always solve things with violence." Zucco taunted.

Once more, the circus tent morphed. This time, Robin was sitting in the stands and his team-his friends-were on the platform.

"No!" He screamed. One by one, his friends approached the end of the platform. They jumped off of the platform and grabbed onto the trapeze, only to have Zucco cut the wires. After one fell, the trapeze string just grew back. Robin watched in horror as the ground turned into an ocean of blood. He tried standing up, but he couldn't for some reason. "No! This isn't happening! Not again! Not to them!" Robin screamed.

All of a sudden, Wally appeared on the platform. "Wally! Wally, don't jump! No!"

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"What happened!" Wally yelled as he ran into the room with Black Canary.

"I don't know! I just finished operating and he started screaming. Something about people jumping, I don't know!" The doctor frantically explained. "His heart rate is off the charts."

"He's having the nightmare again!" Wally screamed, running over to Robin. "Robin! Robin! You have to wake up!" He screamed, gently shaking his friend's body. "How can I wake him up!"

"You can't! I gave him an anesthetic. Until it wears off, he can't wake up."

"Wally! No! No!" Robin screamed as his body violently jolted upward before falling back against the bed.

"Robin!" Wally yelled.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

He watched from the sidelines as his best friend grabbed for the trapeze. "Don't jump! Wally! No!"

The boy didn't hear his friend's warning, and he jumped for the trapeze, only to have the wires be cut. Robin watched as his friend fell onto the ground. After he fell, Bruce stepped up to the platform.

"No! Bruce!" Robin yelled. He watched as the trapeze once again grew back, and Bruce swung through the air on it. The man fell through the air and onto the floor just as his friends had previously.

"No!" Robin screamed. The tent morphed once again, and Robin found himself standing in the center of the ring, next to his parents', friends', and 'father's' bloody bodies.

Tony Zucco walked up to him and placed a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Get off me!" Robin yelled as he shook the man off.

"Now, now. Is that any way to talk to a family friend?" Zucco asked.

Robin lunged forward and reached out to punch Zucco. The man caught the boy's wrist and threw Robin over his shoulder. "Violence never solved anything, little Richard." He said while walking up to Robin, who was lying on his back.

Tony placed his foot on the boy's chest. Robin pulled on the man's ankle to try getting his foot off of him, but was unable to move the man. "Why…did you…do it?" Robin choked out.

"Money."

"Why…why them?"

"They were just my lucky pick." Zucco said. "But don't worry little boy-it's your turn next." Zucco knelt down and held a gun to Robin's head. "Tell them I said hi."

"Robin!" The boy heard Wally's voice calling him.

"Wally! Where are you? You-you need to get out of here! Now!" Robin yelled.

"You need to wake up! Robin, it's just a nightmare! You have to wake up!" Wally yelled

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Wally!" Robin yelled as he jolted up from the hospital bed. He was immediately met by his friend's arms wrapping around him, pulling the younger boy against the older's chest.

"Robin, you're alright." Wally said.

"No, no I'm not." Robin said. He pulled away from Wally and jumped off the hospital bed. He started walking towards the door, but Black Canary stopped him.

"Robin, where do you think you're going? You need to stay here." She said.

"No, I can't stay here. I need to leave. I just need to get away." He said.

"I need to finish stitching the cut." The doctor said.

"I can do it myself! Just let me out!" Robin yelled.

"Robin, I can't do that." Black Canary said. The boy used his good hand to grab Canary's elbow. He twisted it and threw her aside.

"Robin! Where are you going!" Wally yelled after his friend.

"Away. Just…anywhere but here." Robin said. He felt tears welding up in his eyes but told himself he couldn't cry. Not yet. Not here. Not again.

Robin exited the room and ran down the hall. He needed to go see Bruce. There was something he had to do that had been on his waiting list for four years.

"What happened to him?" Black Canary asked as she stood up.

"It's…a long story." Wally said.

**AN**:

I'm sorry that the chapter was so short, but I just felt like it was a good ending. The reason I got this posted within a day of the previous chapter (wow, bad phrasing) was because I was sick today and had to stay home. I worked on this story (not just this chapter) for like, an hour or two. It's still going to take a while to write out and post everything though. Sorry about that.

One more note; has anyone seen the Young Justice role-play twitter? It's so awesome and cute xD Especially on Valentine's Day. The Robin/Wally love tension was so cute. And then Robin and Wally were talking about how Speedy is the "white gummy bear in their bag of rainbow fun" xD

Like always, review :D


	9. Chapter 9

**AN**:

Wow, it's been over a week since I updated…sorry about that. Thankfully, the musical is finally over, so I should be able to update more often. I can't believe they made an episode this early in the series with no Robin! I saw the hidden scenes in the opening, and none of them included Robin, and then they were like "Robin's in Gotham." Damn it…I hope the new episode will have a lot of Robin, but I think it's going to be Aqualad centered since he's the only one who hasn't really had his own character development episode yet. Then there's the chance that this is going to be the episode where Robin will become leader, but I doubt they'd change the team leader this early in the series. I'm going to stop ranting and get to the story. YJ © DC

"Alfred! Alfred! I forgot my key! Can you let me in!" Robin yelled as he pounded on the garage door. Before he left his team's base, Robin went in his room and stitched his hand up. He had to admit that even though his hand _looked_ better, it didn't _feel_ any better. Having to pound on the door definitely didn't help with the pain.

After he waited a few minutes and received no reply, the boy took his a cable from his holographic wrist computer and plugged it into the security lock pad. The Boy Wonder typed in a code and the door opened. He was met by Bruce, who must have thought Robin was an intruder because he was holding a batarang behind his back.

"Chill Bats. It's just me." Robin said. "You can drop the batarang."

"How did you see that? It was behind my back." Bruce asked while placing the batarang on the table beside him. He wasn't wearing his costume, so he didn't have his utility belt to place the batarang back in.

"You're becoming predictable." Robin said.

"Well you're being awfully blunt." Batman said. "What's wrong?"

"Why's something have to be wrong for me to be blunt?" Robin asked, slightly taken aback by Bruce's comment.

"You're usually comedic. Not blunt." Batman pulled a stool over to a table and sat down. He patted the top of a stool next to it, gesturing for Robin to sit down.

"It's complicated." Robin said as he sat on the stool.

"What?"

"You asked me what's wrong. It's complicated."

"I have plenty of time to listen."

"Nightmares." Robin said.

"The same one?"

"No. It was…it was a lot worse."

"What happened?"

"Well, I was…me, in it. Not the nine-year old me, but the thirteen-year old me. I was standing on the stand across from them too. I couldn't reach them, and when my mom appeared next to me; I couldn't stop her from jumping. I saw them die, but…after I saw Zucco. He had a knife and the cut trapeze wire." Robin explained.

"Sounds…confusing." Bruce said.

"Oh, that's not all. After that, I was sitting in the stands and I saw my team-my friends! They all came to the edge and jumped. Zucco just kept cutting the wire and then it grew back after one of them fell. The Wally appeared and I just lost it. I couldn't stand up though-I was just…just stuck to the seat. Then you…you came to the edge and jumped." Robin looked up at Bruce. He had tears welding in his eyes, but tried as hard as he could to hold them back. At least until he finished explaining.

"Was that the end?" Bruce asked.

"No-after that, I appeared in the center of the ring. Next to…all the-all the bodies. Zucco came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. I shook him off, but…he just flipped me onto my back. He was about to kill me, but then I woke up."

Bruce stared at his young ward for a moment before either spoke. "Dick, are you…okay?"

"I don't know." The boy answered. He placed his hands on the sides of his heads and bent his head down. "I just…really don't know."

"Do you want something to drink?" Bruce awkwardly asked.

"No, I-I don't want anything to drink. Bruce, I-I want my father!" Dick said.

"Dick, I'm sorry, but your father is…well…"

"I don't mean my real father! Bruce, I need you! I need your advice! I'm just…I'm so confused." Dick said. He stared at his 'father' for a moment before speaking again. "You're the closest thing to a father I have! Fathers are supposed to comfort their children when they're confused. So…why don't you!"

"Robin, I-"

"You what! I need you! I didn't realize it until I talked with Wally the other day, but…I just, I needed my father to be there for me. And _you_ never were." The boy stood up from the stool and began to walk away. Before he could get far, Bruce grabbed his jacket sleeve and pulled the boy back.

"Bruce, just let me leave!" Robin yelled while trying to shake his mentor's grasp off. "I don't want to be here right now!"

"Dick, you and I both know you're lying to yourself. If you didn't want to be here, then you wouldn't have made the effort to come all the way to Gotham." Bruce stared at his 'son' before he patted on the stool once again. "Now sit down and talk to me. You said you wanted your father to listen to you, so I will."

Dick sighed before sitting back down on the stool. "Promise you won't leave because you were called away? Just like you always do?"

"I don't always le-" Bruce cut himself off when he saw Dick raise his eyebrow. "I… suppose I do leave a lot."

"Well don't this time." Dick said.

"I won't. Now…what do you want to talk about?"

"I just…I can't afford to go through that again, Bruce." Robin said. "I just can't."

"I know the nightmare might be bad, but you have to make yourself realize that it is _only _a nightmare. Nothing more."

"I don't mean the nightmare. I mean…seeing people I love…dying…" Dick said. He felt tears appearing in his eyes as he muttered out the words. "That nightmare just made me realize that…I really don't think I'm strong enough to go through it again."

"You're stronger than you think." Bruce said.

"Yeah…Wally said the same thing. Of course, I didn't really believe him."

"Why?"

"Because I was crying on him when he said it." Robin said. A small blush appeared on the boy's cheeks, but he was able to force it away rather quickly.

"You cried in front of Wally?" Bruce asked. Of all the years he had known Dick, he had never seen him be…emotional. Well, that wasn't completely true. Dick always showed anger, rage, hate, and yet joy and happiness. The boy never showed sorrow though. He did when Bruce first met him, but other than that he had always been mostly stoic in the pain and sorrow emotion department.

"Yeah, I know…stupid." Robin said before lowering his head.

"There's nothing stupid about crying." Bruce said. Dick raised his head on shock and looked his mentor in the eyes. He could feel that Bruce knew he was making eye contact with him, even when Robin was wearing his sunglasses.

"You always taught me to never be weak; I just thought you'd be-"

"There's nothing 'weak' about crying. In fact, crying in front of Wally proves you're strong enough to put others' opinions about you aside. But even if it was weak to cry, that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it." Bruce placed his hand on his ward's shoulder. "Maybe I trained you a little _too_ strictly…"

Robin stared up at his 'father' and couldn't help but let a small smile slip onto his face. "Could we get…back to the um…nightmare though?" The boy asked.

"Really? I would have though…never mind."

"What?" Robin asked.

"I just…I thought you were avoiding talking about it."

"It's not that I don't…" The boy paused to sigh before continuing. "I _want_ to talk about it. I just…I find it hard to talk about."

"You do realize it's not going to happen again." Bruce said.

"But what if it does…" Dick said. He lowered his voice because he knew it was starting to quiver from holding back his tears. Though Bruce had said it was alright to cry, he still didn't want to in front of _Batman_-_The_ Dark Knight.

"Then I'll be there for you."

"But what if-what if it's you!" Robin said. "What if it's you…" He repeated as a tear dripped down his face. "I can't lose you, Bruce…I just can't."

"You won't, Dick." The man said. He hesitated at first, but eventually placed an arm around his young ward's shoulders. Bruce pulled the boy closer to him so that Robin was leaning against his chest. "You know I can handle myself."

Robin allowed a few tears to drip down his cheeks, onto his guardian's shirt. "I know you can. I just…I don't even know. My fear is getting in the way of my logic."

"You don't need to be afraid." Bruce said while he ruffled Robin's hair.

"T-thanks. For…for this." Robin muttered through his tears. "I-it means a l-lot."

"You're welcome. I'm just…happy to be here for you." Bruce stared at his ward who was currently curled up against his chest. He rubbed the boy's back and couldn't help but think how…different Dick looked right now. He had never been this emotional around Bruce, or…at least he hadn't been for four years. But back then, he was never ready to comfort his protégé. This time-this time he would be here for him.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Wally, what happened?" Black Canary asked. After Robin stormed out of the base, the doctor freaked out and left. Black Canary then took Wally and gathered the rest of the team in the living room.

"I don't know. Robin just…lost it." Wally said as he shrugged his shoulders. He was sitting on the middle of the couch between Megan and Kaldur.

"Wally, earlier you said there was something wrong with Robin." Kaldur began. "If it means assisting him, I think it is right for you to tell what exactly happened."

"That's the thing-I don't know the whole story. I'm guessing he had the nightmare again, but I'm not sure why he freaked out like that, or…well, where he went." Wally said.

"We can track him." Black Canary said. She walked over to the main computer and typed something in. "We have a problem; he ditched his communications."

"He's out of my range as well." Miss Martian said as she placed her hands on opposite sides of her head and closed her eyes.

"Then I guess we're not finding him." Wally said.

"We could just search _without_ technology." Superboy suggested.

"I suppose that's the only remaining option." Kaldur said.

"You kids go ahead." Black Canary said. "I'm going to alert the league he's missing."

"Wait, wait, wait-here's a better idea. Why don't we wait?" Wally suggested. "I mean, it's not like he's been gone for days; Robin just left a couple hours ago."

"And you truly believe that is a good idea?" Kaldur asked.

"We're talking about Rob here. Boy Wonder knows how to handle himself. He'll be fine…" Wally said. "I hope." He said under his breath.

"What was that?" Megan asked.

"Noth-"

"He said 'I hope'." Superboy said, cutting Wally off.

"Damn your super hearing…" Wally muttered.

"Wally, what are you not telling us?" Black Canary asked.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Why do you doubt Robin will be alright?" Kaldur asked.

"I don't! He's just…he's just been off recently." Wally said.

"What aren't you telling us?" Superboy asked.

"Nothing, Supey! I just…I don't think Robin would want me saying anything. I mean, if he wants you to know, I think he should tell you himself."

"So there _is_ something you're not telling us." Megan said.

"Yes, but I just…I can't tell you and-"

"Why?" Black Canary asked.

"Because Robin wouldn't want me-"

"Why wouldn't he?" Superboy asked.

"Because it's not my past! It's his!" Wally yelled.

"So something about his past is haunting him?" Kaldur asked.

"Would you just tell us what it is?" Superboy asked.

"No! Just…just stop asking me questions!" Wally said as he grasped the sides of his head. "Look, I just…I need to go."

Before anyone could do anything to stop him, Wally stood up and used his super speed to run out of the base. If everyone was just going to keep asking him questions about a subject he had no right to talk about, he couldn't stay there. But where was he supposed to go? If he went to his uncle's house, he'd probably just ask him what happened, and that would only lead to the same question asking.

Now he had nowhere to go. He was on the run, just like Robin. 'Maybe…maybe I should try to find Robin. But then again, he probably just wants to be alone right now.' Wally stopped running and sat on the ground. 'What the hell am I supposed to do now…'

**AN**:

So now everyone's hopelessly confused. Except maybe Alfred. Though I don't even think I put him in this chapter. This chapter was also pretty confusing, but things will clear up within the next few chapters. And I know I said there won't be any more fluff for a while, but I just wanted to have a nice father/son moment between Dick and Bruce before Robin goes all angsty. Like always, review please :D


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